Trump's tariff plan set to scrub £20bn off economy

Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on US imports will hit the UK economy to the tune of 20bn, according to research.

- HOWARD MUSTOE

Mr Trump has said he plans on introducing a 20 per cent levy on most imports to the US in order to help out domestic businesses, with a 60 per cent tariff on imports from China.

The levy will trim the UK’s economic output by 0.9 per cent by the end of his presidency, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. This is the equivalent of £20bn, using 2023’s figures for economic output.

The US is the UK’s second-biggest trading partner after the EU. Britain also sent £188.2bn of exports to the US in the 12 months to the end of June, about a third of which were goods and the rest services. Cars, aviation parts such as jet engines, and medicines could be sectors most affected by the proposed levy.